Hearty Taco Chili

My Aunt gave me this recipe and highly recommended it.  That's good enough for me.  She's a great cook and entertains a lot.  She got it from a Taste of Home recipe and they are a good source of recipes, also.  I made a few changes to suit my taste, but it is basically their recipe.

   

Hearty Taco Chili

1 1/2 to 2 pounds top round  (the original recipe calls for ground beef, but I always use some sort of steak, if I can.)
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can hominy, rinsed and drained

   

The can sizes are never right in recipes.  Companies make their cans a wee bit smaller and think we won't notice, so just grab any can that is about 15 to 16 ounces.

1 10 oz. diced tomatoes with green chilies ( I chose the mild version.)
1 can 4 oz. green chiles
1 can 8 oz. tomato sauce
2 cans (14 oz.?)  diced tomatoes, don't drain these
1 small diced onion

And here is the part that made me want to try these:

1 envelope Ranch dressing mix
1 envelope taco seasoning mix. (I chose mild here, too.)

  

Ooh.  Interesting, right?

Get out your slow cooker.  I use a Crock Pot.  make sure you have 6 to 8 hours before you need to serve this.  And invite a bunch of people over.  This serves about 8.

   

Trim and cut the meat into 1 inch cubes.

   

 Put a couple teaspoons of oil in a large fry pan.  Brown the meat in batches.  You don't want to it all in the pan or you end up steaming the meat and not browning it.  If you REALLY want to, brown the ground beef now, instead.  Just know that you would have liked the top round better!

When each batch is cooked, use a slotted spoon to put the cooked meat into the slow cooker and cook the next batch. 

   

Dice the onions and put them on the meat in the slow cooker. I know there is strange morning light, but I have to get this in for dinner, even if it is the morning!  Add the two seasoning packets and give a quick stir.

   

Rinse the cans of beans and hominy well.  Hominy?  That's easy.  One of each!  (Sorry.  My attempt at humor.)  Add the beans and hominy to the slow cooker.

  

Place the can of tomatoes with green chilies in a food processor.  Add the little can of green chilies.  Process until smooth and then add to the now almost full Crock Pot. 

   

Add the last two cans with the diced tomatoes and the can of tomato sauce.  Add some pepper.  Give a bit of a stir and cover it.  Turn on the slow cooker on low for 8 hours or high for 6 hours.  Go on about your business.

   

Serve with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and diced onions.  Don't forget the beer muffins!



As an aside, I took the parts I trimmed off the meat and cooked it in the microwave.  The whole time I was cutting off the fat, the dog and cats were starting at me.  Very intent stares.  I could feel them looking at me and every time I turned around there was a wee beastie.  So when the meat cooled, I gave each of the pests beloved animals a taste. 

   

How kind of me.  And it got them out from under foot!